Mind Screen (WA) — 2014 SMART 100

This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.

1. THE BEGINNING

This innovation came to life when…

An Australian GP with a passion for mental health recognised that the traditional approach to undertaking a mental health assessment by asking a few questions was unacceptable. Subjectivity, a time-pressured environment together with stigma attached to mental health and the use of paper-based single disorder assessment tools, did not provide for accurate diagnosis and quality outcomes. Mental health disorders rarely exist in isolation (i.e. someone with depression will often have an underlying issue such as anxiety, social phobia, or alcohol dependence), so a more comprehensive multi-disorder approach to assessment was needed to help practitioners make accurate diagnoses.

2. WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

The purpose of this innovation is to reduce suicides and prevent mental health issues becoming acute. Mind Screen is a decision-support tool to assist medical practitioners arrive at an accurate mental health diagnosis and thus make more informed treatment or referral decisions for better patient outcomes.

It does this by…

Patients complete a unique questionnaire online anywhere, anytime. Clinical data including duration, severity, past and family history, medication and side effects history is collected. The assessment includes a suicide alert, physical, sexual and emotional abuse and possible brain injury. A dynamic mental health treatment plan is instantly available online for the GP to clinically confirm the diagnosis: treat or refer.

3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

Mind Screen’s multi-disorder assessment is a paradigm shift in the way mental health issues are assessed and significantly improves the quality of diagnosis, treatment and patient management. In what would normally take 6-8 GP consultations, now in 15-30 minutes of the patient’s time, a practitioner is able to comprehensively assess a patient for the 30 most common mental health disorders

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

Patients:

Reduces fear, embarrassment

Fewer visits to the GP

Accurate diagnoses

Improvements in personal, family, work relationships

Get better faster and it SAVES LIVES

Practitioners:

Saves time

Improves practice efficiency

Fewer missed appointments

Better patient relationships

Reduces liability

Increases revenue

4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

In the past, this problem was solved by the problem of time-poor GPs assessing patients’ mental health. Instead, mental ill-health is an inconvenient truth for most GPs. It is subjective and intangible and most don’t handle it well, and their patients suffer. Most will ask a few questions, or use a single-disorder assessment tool where the accuracy of the diagnosis is compromised.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

Paper-based single disorder questionnaires with no supporting suite of online functionality. Some software tools where a qualified practitioner sits with the patient for 90 minutes to complete. Most GPs will diagnose, usually incorrectly or incompletely, by asking questions from memory.

5. TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

It is made for the one in four citizens of the world with a diagnosable mental health disorder. By 2020 just one mental disorder, depression, will be the largest contributor to the global disease burden, and that doesn’t include secondary effects. The impact of mental ill-health on Australian productivity is estimated at $30 billion dollars per annum ($2.5 trillion for the US); the social costs are just as great. In Australia someone commits suicide every 3.5 hours and 20 others will attempt it.

FINE PRINTThis SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.

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